How much importance do you give to Metacritic ?

[Lulcielid]

When discussing about game, chances are that at some point you might have heard about the Metacritic score and how influencial it is, i have seen people use as a factor to support whether how good/bad a game is and if you should buy it or not.
I would to question to you:

1. Do you give importance to it in your purchase of a product ?
2. Does the score in it represent how truely good/bad the game is ?
3. Do you care about numbering score ?

 

[Lulcielid]

As the thread creator, this is my response:

1. Short answer NO. A bit more elaborated answer, whether i have to decide if buying a game or not, i only need to answer this question "Do you really want the game/Are you interested in the game" ? If the answer is yes/no to either, then i buy/don´t buy it. Whether i regret buying the game or not doesn´t matter too much as i personally have enjoyed games that didn´t score well in Metacritic and not enjoying/being dissapointed with games that scored well in the webpage (GTAV, MGS4)
2. For me they barely do. Like how can the review of less than 30 critics represent what millon of consumers think ?
3. Little, only care to know for curiosity sake and nothing more, even less so when some are droping the number scoring.

 

[yeah_93]

1. Yes. As someone who can seldom buy game, reviews are important for me.
2. Not really. It depends on the game. Of course, a game with a 90 Metacritic would probably be better than a 60 one.
3. It depends on the reviewer and their scale. Some give 7s to games I would give 5. It matters more the content of the review.

 

[AnGer-dono]

1. No, never. I go by what piques my interest or what is recommended by people.
2. Not really. While technical issues are indeed reflected in low scores, other problems are seldomly admitted through the score alone and require an in-depth examination of the review that birthed said score.
3. No. To use a phrase from Yahtzee, "I don't believe in scores because I don't believe that a complex opinion can be represented numerically". I'd rather read a review - or even just the abstract - than just go by the scores which seem more and more inflated these days and especially under the notion that apparently everything under 80 is rubbish in the public perception these days.

 

[Fin]

Reviews don't matter unless they are praising a game I like. Then I can go show them to friends to convince them to try the game too. "HAY GUYS! I'm not the only one who likes this so don't look at me like I'm crazy when I say it's awesome. My opinion is totally validated!"

If a game I like gets bad reviews I ignore them lol

And the only time someone else's recommendation influences my purchasing decision is when it comes from a friend or individual whose opinion I trust. A lot of my favorite games, though, I picked out on a whim because I liked the cover (and then if the game turns out to be good I look for more titles by the same creators). I guess I have good intuition.

 

[Nora_Nightingale]

1.Yes
2. No. if you asked about the entire reviews themselves, that's another factor. Most games have links to the actual review. I pick out the most positive, to the generally positive, to mix, and then the absolute worst and read them all until i find which was the deal breaker and the deal maker. Even then, i rely on user reviews and see if they agree or disagree.
3. I used to care until i realized people have different metrics, despite trying to use the same 1-10 scale, they just will rate something higher if they liked it enough to ignore it. Someone can give a 9/10 just because a game has to be something impossible to reach 10. or rate it significantly lower but they praised it enough. What they say doesn't match the number they give.